


Second Chances

by afteriwake



Series: All's Fair [25]
Category: CSI: NY
Genre: Bad Decisions, Couches, Exes, F/M, Friendship/Love, Happy Ending, Implied/Referenced Domestic Violence, Kissing, Making Up, POV Lindsay Monroe, Past Relationship(s), Protection, Protective Danny, Talking, Worried Danny, Worried Lindsay
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-05
Updated: 2018-01-05
Packaged: 2019-02-28 21:36:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,413
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13280340
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/afteriwake/pseuds/afteriwake
Summary: Danny and Lindsay talk and decide to try again in the aftermath the end of her rebound relationship.





	Second Chances

**Author's Note:**

> Takes place a few nights after the events of the fic "Safe."

_I'm strong on the surface_   
_Not all the way through_   
_I've never been perfect_   
_But neither have you_   
Linkin Park, "Leave Out All The Rest"

This time, it was different. It had to be, or else there would never truly be a second chance at things. But in the same way, in some very fundamental ways, nothing had changed. He was still there, solid as ever. He'd changed quite a bit from the man she'd met years before, the one who had told her to call Mac sir, who'd saddled her with a nickname she'd said she'd despised but had secretly been pleased by. He was different now, but in some ways, in all the right ones at least, he was still the same.

And that was good. That was a very good thing.

"You sure you want to take the couch?" he asked.

"You won't let me go home right now, and it isn't fair I take the bed all the time. It's your place," she said with a nod, taking the pillow and blanket he offered her.

"Yeah, but Linds...like you said, _I'm_ the one not wanting you to go home. Not while we can't track that bastard down," Danny said, running one of his now free hands through his hair.

"I see you twinging in the mornings. At least sleep in the bed tonight. If you can handle four nights on the couch, I can handle one." She set them down on the couch and went over to him, resting a hand on the side of his face, keeping his gaze locked on hers. "You deserve a good night's sleep."

"I am getting a good night's sleep," he said with his trademark grin playing at the corners of his mouth.

"No you're not," she said quietly. "I know you."

"You do, don't you?" he said just as quietly.

"Yeah. But there's still a lot about you I don't know anymore."

"Want to learn?"

"You need some sleep," she said, lowering her arm.

"I'm not going to push. But if there's anything you want to know, just ask me, okay? I'll tell you."

She nodded. "I'll remember that." 

He headed back towards the bedroom and she sat on the couch, looking around. That first night, she'd stayed curled up on his lap until she fell asleep. He'd carried her into his bedroom and laid her down to get some rest. She'd only woken up when she registered that she was stretched out, not curled up. For a moment she'd started to freak out before she realized she wasn't in her home, she wasn't in her own bed. And the minute she remembered she was at Danny's this feeling had settled over her, and she felt safe again.

The next morning he'd offered his place up indefinitely. She'd been tempted to say yes right off the bat, but in the end, she said she wanted to think about it for the day. He'd insisted on going with her back to her place so she could change, and she'd agreed to that. And the minute she saw that her apartment door had been kicked in, she was glad she had. Her apartment had been trashed, and there was so much mess that she took one look and burst into tears.

All it took were two strong arms wrapping around her and some soft words to make her feel a little better, or at least better able to deal with the situation that had developed. And she let him take charge for a while, calling Mac and getting someone to look for her ex, having the team go through her apartment and find as much as possible to verify who ruined it, helping her gather up some of the clothes that hadn't been ruined, bringing them back to his place . And she was relieved not to have to make any decisions that day.

But now it was three days later and she had to make a few decisions for herself. The first was to simply agree with one of Danny's: she was going to stay with him at least until they found Steve. And maybe even a little longer after that. She wasn't sure right now, and that was a decision that could be made at a later date. The second was to clean up her apartment as best she could, salvage what was salvageable and figure out what to do next. Getting new locks was a priority, and so was keeping in touch with her super to get the damages to the apartment walls and doors fixed. It was a lot to deal with, but she welcomed it.

"Hey, what's on your mind?"

She turned back to the hallway to see Danny leaning against one side, arms crossed in front of him. "You're supposed to be trying to sleep," she said.

"You remember what I said about getting a good night's sleep? I lied," he said.

"I know." She moved over and patted the spot next to her on the couch. "I do have some questions, I think."

"I'm an open book," he said as he sat down. "Now I am, anyway."

"When you first met him, what did you think of Steve?" she asked.

He looked down at his hands. "He reminded me too much of Frankie. Stell's ex, remember?"

"How could I forget," she said. "Why didn't you say anything?"

"You wouldn't have listened. I would have just come off as a jealous ex." She opened her mouth and he looked at her. "Don't deny it."

She closed her mouth and nodded slightly. "I guess you're right."

"Didn't mean I couldn't tell Flack what I was thinking. I knew eventually he'd try and talk to you about it, and if he didn't Jess would. I just hoped you'd listen."

"I should have listened better," she said, lowering her head.

"Hey, you've seen domestic violence cases before," he replied, putting an arm around her shoulder. "He was setting you up for it, and in the beginning, you don't really realize what's happening. You got smart after he showed his true colors. That's what counts."

"Do you think I'm stupid?"

"No. I don't think you're stupid, Linds. I never have even when you've done things that might be considered stupid."

"How come you let me in that night?"

"You wouldn't have come here without a very good reason. We've spent the last, what...five months?" She nodded. "The last five months not really talking much outside of work. If you were here then there was a very good reason for it. I wanted to find out what that reason was."

"Why are you letting me stay here?"

"Because I don't want to think about him getting a hold of you and hurting you, and if you're here I can keep an eye on you, and deal with him if it comes to that." he reached over and tilted her face slightly so she was looking at him. "He ever lays a hand on you again I'll kill him. I don't care if I lose my badge over it or I go to jail. I'm not going to let him hurt you again."

She looked at him intently. "You still love me, don't you?" she asked quietly, her voice barely above a whisper.

"Yes," he said. "Never stopped."

She turned slightly and wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him close. She shut her eyes once she felt his arms close around her again. She should never have ended things, never should have messed them up, not when she had this. "I'm sorry."

"Sorry for what?" he asked.

"Sorry I hurt you. Sorry about how I went about things. I'm just...I'm sorry."

"It's okay now," he replied. "I promise, it's okay."

She pulled back from the embrace and leaned in to kiss him softly. She had missed that so much. It had never been the same with Steve, and she knew it, and that had been one of the many reasons she'd been having her doubts. She had realized that maybe having everything feel right had spooked her when she should have just embraced it. And she'd known she needed to see if she could get a second chance, Maybe she hadn't intended for it to be done this way, she thought as he kissed her back, but she had it, and she wasn't letting it go for anything, not this time.


End file.
